Council tax doubles under Labour

COUNCIL tax bills in some areas have almost doubled since Labour came to power, it emerged last night.

Analysts say council tax bills have now reached the same level as the poll tax at its worst.

Figures released by Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford showed council tax for a band D property in Devon rose by 95.5% between 1997 and the current financial year.

Devon saw the highest percentage increase in a league table of English counties published in a Commons written reply.

The rates of increase will infuriate campaigners who have been protesting about soaring council tax bills.

Elizabeth Winkfield, 83, from North Devon, became Britain's best known tax rebel earlier this year when she insisted she was prepared to go to jail rather than pay any increase.

Close behind Devon in the table was Norfolk with a 94.5% increase since 1997 for the same band, followed by Cambridgeshire on 93.4% and North Yorkshire with 92.2%.

Mr Raynsford said Worcestershire had seen a 90.8% rise, while other counties above 80% included Essex, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire and Buckinghamshire.

The lowest rise was in Cumbria 63.1% - while Lancashire recorded 64.9% and Durham 65.4%.

Earlier this year, Ministers tried to head off growing public unrest over council tax by capping six local authorities which had threatened excessive increases.

The average increase in bills this year, however, was still 5.9% - around three times the rate of inflation.

The average rise last year of 12.9% caused widespread discontent with pensioners on fixed incomes among the worst hit as the typical bill broke through the £1,000-a-year barrier.

The Tories argue that the Government - not local authorities - is to blame for rises. They say skewed local funding and red tape from Whitehall have helped drive up bills.

Conservative local government spokesman Eric Pickles said last night: 'The Government has deliberately chosen to use council tax as a stealth tax. It also changed the funding formula for local authorities to punish people from county areas and move resources from efficient authorities to elsewhere.

'For many pensioners, council tax now represents a huge proportion of their income.'

The Tories are considering radical reforms of council tax and will unveil detailed proposals before the election, expected next spring.

The party's work and pensions spokesman David Willetts is working on plans to lighten the burden for swathes of the population by making pensioners and others earning less than £10,000 a year ineligible to pay.

The Government is also drawing up plans to give thousands of old folk who do not claim the unpopular means-tested council tax benefit, automatic reductions on their bills. The Tories have warned that council tax bills will soar further if Labour wins a third term in power.

A revaluation of properties to determine which council tax band they fall into is due to take place in England next year.

In Wales, where a revaluation is already under way, one in three households will move up at least one council tax band, meaning soaring bills for many.

In parts of the principality, where house prices have risen by more than the national average, the increases are even greater, with 64% moving up a band in Cardiff and 53% in Wrexham.